Lore Guardian Chronicles
by Ancient-Guardian
Summary: Trust is like respect...both are earned, not given. The wounds of abuse are hard to heal..
1. Salvation Comes From The Heavens

**Disclaimer: I don't make anything from this. Azurik: Rise of Perathia is owned by Microsoft and Adrenium Entertainment...you get the picture.**

**Author's Note: This scene among some others will contain strong scenes of abuse and possible rape...so if you're easily frightened off, don't read.**

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_**"Ya worthless little bitch! Ya ugly, filthy little slut!"**_

**Her head rang with the angry shout, plus the vicious force of the backhand slap, a flash of pain ripping through her skull as her head went snapping back, more pain blossoming as her head made a connection with the base of her neck where it connected to her back. She found herself staring at the ceiling, seemingly mesmerized by the dark green hue of it, but in truth it was just that she was stunned. The drunken man in front of her reeled sideways, aiming another blow at her again, which connected with the other side of her head and forced her out of his grip, and she stumbled back four steps, her back running up against the half opened window and the wall it was set into which was now liberally splashed with alcohol. The strong scent of whiskey made her choke, and she began to cough uncontrollably. Unbeknownst to her bright crimson droplets flew from her lips, and landed on the palm of her hand, which in turn were absorbed into the once soft and pristine blue curtains behind her, staining the fabric as she sank to the ground like a stone. She was grasping the curtain so tightly in her hand she barely noticed when she brought down the curtain rod and the curtains with her, the soft fabric and the hard, unyielding rod cascading down around her in a shower of dark blue cloth and gleaming brass.  
**

**Dizzy and feeling weak, the dark haired young woman looked up at her blood relative, pain, anger, fear, disgust and hatred raging in her small frame as she glared impotently up at her blood relative through tear filled eyes. **

_**"Ya loo' at me when I'm talkin' to ya, ya little bitch,"**_** the man slurred as he staggered towards the helpless young woman lying in a broken and battered sprawl on the floor. **

**For her part, Janelle Solaris made no attempt to move...not that she could at this point in time anyway. Her entire body ached all over from the various kicks, punches, slaps and lashes from the remains of the , she was sure her left knee was dislocated if not broken, and bloody cuts and lacerations covered her right shoulder where a few small shards of crystal clear glass stained with her own blood still jutted out of her shoulder. Her clothing was torn and ripped, half hanging off of her body, and she vainly tried to cover herself by means of a thin gray blanket lying near her. **

**She was about 5 feet, 7 inches, give or take, and she was a bit on the chubby side, much to her inner chagrin whenever she looked in the mirror. Her features were slightly defined...she had a gentle, rounded look to her features, which were slightly Asian in nature. Her skin was pale, like fine alabaster. Her almond shaped eyes were dark brown, flecked with gold...almost like that of the tiger's eye gem. Her clothes were simple...black capri pants, black and white tennis shoes, and a deep island blue V-necked T-shirt with short sleeves. Her long, dark hair was neatly tied back in a ponytail, away from her face so it would not get in her way...**

**Or it had been before her hair had been half pulled out of her head...it certainly felt like it...her clothes ripped and stained with blood, her slightly narrow face already showing signs of bruising, her body also showing similar signs of being battered and tossed about... **

_**"Stupid fuckin' slut...talkin' to some other guy...ya belon' ta me, ya hear?" **_

**Outside the house, dark, ominous clouds could be seen through Janelle's open window, and the cold breeze that whispered through the room spoke of a storm coming. The young woman's dark hair veiled her face in a deep brown cloud as she lay on the ground, barely able to move without pain. Just because her uncle had seen her talking casually to the mailman as he had been going about his business he had thrown a hissy fit and pounced on her like a cat would akin to a mouse. It had never been this bad before...why now? Why was he drunk off his ass to begin with...catching her with the broken bottle the second she walked in the door, then had grabbed her and began dealing out heavy handed blows and kicks to her tender flesh, resulting in the state that she was in right now. Her uncle was an abusive, controlling prick...on the outside he seemed to be a strict, controlled man, but it was far from the truth. But it was his niece that suffered his vicious tendencies...when the least little thing went wrong at work he waited until he got home to vent his anger and frustrations...and he had a major jealousy problem, to boot. His wife...Janelle's aunt, had left him four years before for another man, and the result had led him to drink, and drink, and drink until he knew not what was real and what wasn't. **

**Thunder growled outside, replied by a flare of brilliant white lightning, which laced the clouds above like a sacred spear lancing through the dark sky.**

_**"Now, my lil' whore...come on over 'ere an' let's see whut ya can do ta make up fer yer nonsense..." **_

**Anger flowered within her anew, and she slowly managed to gain her feet, swaying heavily as she managed to grasp the fallen curtain rod that she had pulled down with her when she had fallen to the floor earlier. **

**"No..." she whispered harshly, barely able to speak through a half bruised throat, but nonetheless, somehow through her uncle's drunken haze, he managed to hear it, and he stared at her openly in a mixture of rage, shock and disbelief.**

**"Scuse me? Whu--whut did ye say ta me?" **

**Lightning flared again, but this time the bolt sang dangerously close to the window, blasting down to hit the ground below the house, about three feet away from the window. The loud crack, plus smell of ozone, seared grass and burned soil flooded her ears and filled nose, but it only served to fuel her fury: she was past caring of what would happen to her now. If she died...**

_**Hell, she would welcome the oblivion of death if it meant being free!**_

**"I SAID NO!"**

**The force of her defiant, angry cry stunned her attacker with shock value alone as she summoned all her remaining strength and swiftly raised the metal rod above her head, clearly intending to strike back at her attacker with it, the surge of adrenaline ripping through her veins despite the searing pain in her torn and lacerated shoulder. Inhuman rage and hate filled her eyes, almost making them glow golden as she prepared to bring the curtain rod back down with the return swing of her primary arm. The force of her drawing back to swing the rod had resulted in her breaking the window, the rod sticking out of it and reaching to the heavens like a bizarre sort of TV antenna. **

**And that was when all hell broke loose.**

**Some people say that lightning never strikes twice, some say that it never strikes in the same place. The people who said those things were proven wrong as in the next ten seconds things went completely awry. Whatever the cause, a second searing bolt of lightning screamed from the heavens with a resounding **_**crack**_**, rushing downwards in the space of a split second to strike the rod the young woman held. The lightning roared through the metal rod and shot down the length of it to snake around the young woman with the speed of an angry cobra striking. Her vision was filled with white fire as she parted her lips to scream...yet no sound came out. Oddly enough, she felt light, as if she were floating...or was she falling? She had no clue. Just that, around her, was whiteness everywhere, and yet, it did not seem to be stationary. It seemed to be moving...she wanted to touch it, and yet, she found that she could not move. Vaguely she thought she should be grateful for the fact that she couldn't see the ugly mug of her uncle anymore, she thought with a bitter, ironic smile. Better nothingness, better this ivory oblivion, rather than the twisted, demonic face of her relative. **

**Then...**

_**"It's time for your lesson, young Guardian."**_

**Janelle whimpered softly as she slowly opened her eyes...then swiftly shut them again as a brilliant white light seared them, now fully aware of the pain she was in. Her head ached, her body hurt everywhere...tears burned her eyes from within as she gasped in a breath. At least...at least he had stopped beating her...that was something, wasn't it?**

_**"Sir, it would be an honor to practice with you." **_

**She froze when she heard the sound...it was a man's voice, and it sounded close...very, very close. Boyish in nature...barely coming into maturity...or was he just beginning entry into the prime of his life?**

_**"Huh."**_

**Despite herself, the young woman froze, cringing in the light that surrounded her. The first man...this voice darker, deeper, carrying a hint of charisma and intimidation within its depths. **

**A sharp cracking noise, like the sound of a stick snapping underfoot startled her, then the sound of leather striking flesh, followed by a sharp grunt of pain...clearly this too, was male in nature. The sound reverberated through her aching head and she put her head in her hands, taking a slow, deep, shuddering breath as she pressed her head into her hands, weeping despite her efforts to remain quiet.**

_**"You talk too much...a good practice is a real fight,"**_** she heard another man's voice say, and she cringed and curled herself into a tighter ball. **

**Those voices...she had heard them before, sometime, somewhere...they were oh so familiar...wouldn't they go away, and leave her in peace? The sharp clicking of wood against wood soon answered that question for her, and she curled into a ball, closing her eyes as she tried to find some peace in the aching, searing agony that threatened to overwhelm her. Thankfully the voices and odd noises soon left her alone, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep at long last, unaware and uncaring of her surroundings.**

**Had she opened her eyes, she would have found herself in an odd circular stone chamber, the only adornment were the odd, unfamiliar runes etched into the stone walls, with herself lying on a large raised pedestal in the center. The medium sized multicolored sphere, which was the size of a small melon, and which was settled on the broad circular altar that she was lying on swiftly disappeared as it was absorbed into her body. Once that sphere was gone, another appeared, part of the transparent globe rising halfway out of her chest like a glowing, shifting translucent multicolored sun before that too vanished. **

**Since she was unconscious, the pale young woman had no way of knowing of the changes taking place to her body as she unknowingly absorbed the odd orbs, one after the other as soon as they appeared. Slowly, her physical form began to change, as more and more of the strange pulsing luminescent balls sank into the confines of her flesh. **

**Her body and her skin showed the first change...her skin rippled several times with waves of soft multicolored light before the faint hair on her arms and legs began to thicken and grow, spreading over her entire body in a matter of minutes. However, unlike the color and texture of her hair, this hair was much thicker and much more finer than her long, silky mane...it was fur, thick and fine and soft as clouds, and unlike the dark chocolate hue of her hair it was a tawny, silky golden brown color. Next was her hands and feet...the light spread over them, changing them, too. Her fingers and her toes merged together and then split apart again, but this time they resembled great padded fore and hind paws, each tipped with five sharp black talons, each one of the great claws well over three inches in length, the bones of her entire skeleton also changing to newly accommodate her shifting form. Fat and muscle and sinew rearranged themselves as her inner organs also underwent odd changes. From her shoulder blades, which had spaced out to accommodate her changing form, they itched crazily for a second, before the light coalesced there...and began to spread out, taking a defining shape as it grew and changed. Nearly twenty feet in width and about seven feet in length, the massive pair of golden feathered wings flared wide before settling down at the transforming young woman's heaving, fur covered sides. Now the final changes and defination began...the muscles began to thicken slightly in the neck, a bit more in the arms and legs, the back and the sides, lending her bulk and strength. From her now bowed back, at the very top of her butt, a long, five foot tail grew from there slowly, the very tip of the appendage tufted and the same color of her hair. Unable to stand the strain the girl's clothes burst, falling to the altar and to the floor around her in tatters and shreds of bloodstained cloth and fabric, festooning the floor like the macabre remains of some odd celebration confetti.**

**The young woman's brow furrowed...though she was unconscious that didn't mean she couldn't feel some of the changes and this, plus the changing of her skeleton...well...it hurt. A lot. She moaned softly in pain as the light lengthened and covered her entire body.**

**"No...stop...please...I didn't mean to...stop it...stop it...!" **

**Driven from her unconscious state by the growing pain, the young woman's eyes snapped open wide. But thanks to the strange power of the spheres she had unwittingly taken into herself...her eyes were no longer brown. Now they were a brilliant, fierce golden hue, akin to the sun's rays...and looked more catlike than that of a human's. Her once rounded shell shaped ears had also become slightly elongated and pointed, and her features now sharper, more predatory than her normal, somewhat heart shaped face.**

_**"DAMN YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"**_** she screamed, and hard on the heels of that angry cry came a deafening, vicious, blood-chilling roar...the majestic yet heart-freezing bellow of the mighty lion. **

**Upon parting her lips to give voice to that terrified and fury filled shriek plus roar, where her upper and lower canine teeth had been had grown and lengthened into a pair of deadly flesh rending fangs, the rest of her teeth also resembling smaller, sharper versions besides the primary and secondary fangs she now possessed. Other than that...the change was now completed. **

**Where a young human woman had once been, now lay a mighty, fearsome creature. A creature of legend, only seen in myths, with the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the head of a human woman.**

**Janelle Solaris...had become a sphinx.**


	2. Sanctum of the Sphinx

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff...I wish I did, but nah, that's just a pipe dream.**_

_**Author's Note: Trust me, this is NOT a mary-sue...she had problems, she still has problems, she's not perfect. Never mind about her becoming a sphinx; she was abused for nearly three years, as a result she won't trust people easily, she's sarcastic, wary and thinks men are nothing more than chauvinist pigs. She's also bit of a dreamer, and as a result she doesn't pay attention half the time unless its really important.**_

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**Where...where was she? Cold, ancient weathered and smoothly shaped stone was underneath her, not the bloodstained, whiskey soaked beige carpet she had once been lying on...**

**The smell of blood, whiskey, ozone, burned plants and boiled water no longer assailed her nose...and a plethora of new scents had taken their place. She smelled dry, cool stone, the cold dust around her, the air itself somewhat stale and musty. She groaned and shook her head slowly: goddamn her head hurt like hell...ha, who was she kidding? She hurt just about every-fucking-where... **

**She rolled over...**

**And fell off the pedestal, landing on the cold stone ground with a sharp **_**thump**_**, which raised a large cloud of dust upon her landing. **

**"God damn...did someone get the number of the truck that hit me..." she mumbled to herself as she struggled to her feet. As she tried to gain her balance, she happened to look down at what she **_**thought **_**were her feet. **

**Whoever made the the expression rude awakening couldn't have been more right. Golden catlike eyes widened in disbelief, horror and astonishment as she reared back in alarm, her wings flaring wide and flapping furiously, which sent her sprawling right onto her back in an undignified position...all four paws in the air, wings spread out wide and tail straight out in front of her.**

**She raised her new paws to her face, frantically studying her new appendages, her soft fur coat and her glistening wings that gleamed faintly in the dim glowing crystals embedded within the stone walls.**

**A ear-piercing yowl flooded her ears, making her cringe in pain and flinch, closing her eyes tightly as the harsh sound echoed through her now super-sensitive hearing. **

_**"Wha...what...what the hell is this? This can't be fucking remotely possible! Jesus H. Christ what the FUCK happened to me?!"**_

**Frantically she rolled over, trying not to step on her right wing in the process. She sprang to her feet and immediately fell over on her side again, not used to being on four legs. She twisted her head around to look down at herself. **

_**"This is fucking crazy...what the hell am I...last I checked I'm human, damn it, human! Shit..."**_

**Her angry, frightened ranting echoed through the wide cylindrical chamber, as she got up, tried to walk, fell down and lay there for a bit, then repeated the process, cussing every time she lost her balance and fell over.**

**"Okay...okay...Janelle, calm down, just calm down...no need to get all worked up...yeah freaking right...okay...now...where the hell am I?"**

**The female sphinx glanced around her, noticing that she was in a rounded, completely enclosed chamber. There were no windows, and the dark stone walls were covered with odd pictures of people wearing weird armor and wielding double bladed spears, the pictures framed by carved runes, all of them unfamiliar to her. The stones were all the same gray green hue, and embedded within them were oddly glowing blue and white crystals. Taking a closer look around revealed that she was lying on the lowest part of the three tier raised floor, right next to an ornately carved stone pedestal. Atop that pedestal rested a glowing orb of light, which changed different hues as time went by...from red to blue, to green to yellow and back again, never taking the same pattern of color twice. There didn't seem to be any way out of the enclosure...not that she could see. The longer she stared at the walls, the closer they seemed to become...until she could take it no more and she roared in fear, the angry cry echoing loudly through the chamber and resounding in her ears. She swiftly sank to the ground, panting furiously, giving herself a harsh smack to the face with her own paw. The pain of the strike broke her out of the semi-hypnotic trance she had been in, and she shivered violently from nose to tail, her feathers rustling nervously.**

**"Snap out of it, soldier...fuck...am I claustrophobic or what?" **

**She staggered to all fours and tried to walk, but she ended up stumbling over her paws and landed in an undignified sprawl on the cold stone ground...she let out a fearsome hiss of fury and bared her fangs, slapping a paw onto the dust covered floor in anger and frustration.**

**"Fucking son of a bitch...can't even **_**freaking walk straight**_**, I swear!" **

**She glared to the left paw, then to the right, then turned her head to scowl over one gleaming golden wing at her hind legs. "I was born with **_**two **_**legs, not four! Shit...the fuck do they expect me to do...crawl? Hell, no!" **

**Mumbling further curses she carefully put one paw on the ground, braced herself, then the other paw. She shifted her lower half so she could move her rather awkward rear legs underneath her. In the current pose she had she looked like a cat ready to pounce on something or lying at a semi-alert pose.**

**"Ooookay...let's try this again, huh?"**

**She slowly rose to all fours, wobbled as she tried to gain her balance. She swayed heavily and fell over on her side with a thud: dust rose in a choking cloud around her and she let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh. **

**"Out of the frying pan into the god-damned fire...yeah, that's my luck all right," she spat as she began to get up again. **

**It took her a grand total of twelve tries before she was able to stand up without falling over. Her wings, she found, helped balance her, and she experimented with them, opening and closing one, then the other, then she flapped them experimentally, flexing the new muscles she possessed. **

**"Man...how the hell did I end up with this?"**

**The she-sphinx began to pace from one end of the enclosed chamber to the other, feeling very much like a lion in a cage. Like hell she was going to be able to go to the zoo again...if she was still in her house at all, that was.**

**"Okay...first thing, I'm walking home from school. I stopped to talk to old Jenkins on my way home, then when I walked in the house, that no good two faced son of a bitch starts beating on me like a dusty rug on a line like he's done for the past three years, bastard..." **

**Gleaming white fangs bared themselves in a deadly snarl as she turned and began making the circumference of the rather large chamber she was in.**

**"Love to see him try to beat me senseless now..."**

**She stopped in her tracks and lifted one paw up in front of her face. She contracted the muscles inside of her great paw...**

**Each of the curved, wicked looking talons that slid out from their sheaths hidden within her large paw were three and a half inches in length...each one easily capable of rending flesh from bone and tearing muscles and sinew apart. A wicked, vicious smile touched her lips as she thought of the look of fear and terror on her relative's face if he found her like this...oh how she would enjoy his screams as she dealt him a hand in the deck that she now had control of...**

**The dust heavy on the air and on her tickled her nose and she sneezed sharply, brushing at her face with her paw and shaking her head. **

**"Okay...now. How the fuck am I gonna get out of here? God damn...am I gonna have to smash my way out of this crypt?" she snarled, whirling around to lash out with her right paw to viciously slap one of the stone walls with her paw. She growled and bounded to the other side, and slammed herself against the closest wall that she near to. What she failed to notice about this wall that it had a much thicker frame and archway than the others, and though it bore runes on the archway it had no depiction of an armor clad warrior on it. She slapped it with her paw sharply, snarling in frustration and rising fear at the thought that she was trapped in this place. **

**"Where's a fucking **_**door **_**when you need one?" **

**A grating, rumbling noise touched her ears as the stone wall she had smacked against sank backwards slightly, then began to descend into the floor, revealing a hidden hallway beyond it. Further down she could just make out another section of wall sliding away, revealing in turn yet another hallway beyond that. The she-sphinx sat down hard on her haunches as she stared in surprise at the hidden door she had inadvertently discovered.**

**"Sheesh...ask and you shall receive, no kidding," she muttered as she began to stride out of the chamber proper. She stumbled once or twice, much to her chagrin, but she soon began to find her rhythm. Slowly she padded out of the confining chamber, wanting nothing but to get the hell out of there...it felt more like a cage and less than a crypt. **

**Her senses had also changed too...she found that not only her hearing had changed, but so had her sense of sight and smell. As her surroundings changed hue in luminescence, the darkness giving way to light, her eyes also changed to accommodate her surroundings, just like a cat's would. Scents of nature soon also reached her nose, replacing the dry, musty scent of the empty chamber she had been in. Sweet air, fresh water, green growing things, something that smelled like last year's compost pile, hot stones and rotten eggs...**

**She sneezed and shook her head, tossing her now much thicker than normal hair out of her eyes as she paced out of the chamber she had been in. The burst of late afternoon sunlight hit her face as she stepped fully out into what she thought was the outside of her house...**

**She whisked her tail from side to side, staring at her new surroundings in sheer awe. **

**The cliff walls rose around her sharply, hanging vines and climbing plants covering their stark stone faces with bits of life here and there. The rock walls rose around and behind her, a waterfall crashing in the far distance, sending spray everywhere, like spangled tulle falling gracefully into the shining teal pool of water far below. Little birds bedecked in bright, jewel toned plumage flitted from flower to flower...they exploded with color among the verdant green foliage surrounding her. Beneath her clawed feet was a thick, rich carpet of verdant green grass.**

**The breezes were calm and balmy, the sun was shining, the trees were waving lightly in the breeze while the waves of the pool lapped calmly against the shore. Fish in colorful schools swam gracefully among the stones further out in the pond, bright clusters of living jewels, while birds soared overhead, their shimmering, vibrant plumage making them glow in the deepening afternoon. Flowers burst in riotous color along the sides of and around the vale edges, vivid splashes of blue, violet, orange-yellow, yellow, red and pink and white.**

**The hidden door sealed itself from the she-sphinx behind her with a grating snap, causing her to glance behind her and shiver all over a bit as the wall seemed to move behind her before stilling completely.**

**"Toto...I got a feeling I'm not in Kansas anymore," the sphinx muttered to herself as she stared at the unfamiliar plants around her, the natural pristine beauty of the odd place she was in. The air smelled fresh and free of the familiar chemical smells of the town she lived in...car exhaust, hot tar, cold asphalt, cut grass, rotting garbage in the dumpsters...the sounds of cars driving by, lawn mowers roaring, kids yelling, people shouting at one another or talking down the street...**

**"Did I die?" Janelle mused, frowning as she began walking forward. "I've got wings but I sure as hell am no angel," she continued as she turned her head to regard her new feathered body parts. The thought crossed her mind she could fly if she wanted to, and she arched her wings and flapped them several times, sending up a small breeze that blew gently over the grasses and rustled the leaves of the bushes around her. **

**New sounds assailed her ears...falling water, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, the flapping of her great wings...and the soft chirping of birds close by.**

**Janelle landed back on her front legs, cocking her head curiously at the strange chirrup-cheep noises she could hear. Curious despite her confusion and fear, the she-sphinx began moving towards the sound, the soft grass under her paws feeling almost like velvet underfoot. **

**She peered over the bushes to see an amusing sight...Janelle stifled the urge to start snickering like an idiot: the birds looked like chickens, but they were much smaller, about half their size, like...like multicolored quail or a partridge, even...and when they moved, they hopped with both feet jumping like frogs, almost. Watching the odd flock of hopping yellow, blue, purple and red birds about six feet away from her, her stomach made an semi-audible complaint, and she felt saliva pool in her mouth. Instincts that had lain dormant within her human mind now came to the fore, overpowering her human senses, and she instantly crouched down, the tip of her tail switching in anticipation as she fixed her eyes on the hopping chicken like birds, which chirped and clucked to themselves as they pecked at the rotting fruit underneath the tree itself, unaware of the huge predator about ten feet away from them hiding in the bushes.**

**Her tongue licked at her lips as she crept forward slowly, keeping herself low as she carefully put one paw over the other, treading cautiously towards her prey, which kept innocently pecking on the ground, chattering and chirping softly. Closer and closer she drew, making no sound as she advanced on her unsuspecting quarry. The bushes provided excellent cover for her, and despite the tawny sheen of her coat the shadows helped her blend in. **

**Then...**

**The transformed human woman burst from the bushes in a rush of tawny gold fur and shining feathers, a deafening roar echoing from her lips as she rushed out and leaped into the air, springing right into the middle of the flock of odd chicken like birds. Three out of the seven birds she caught...two under her paws, and one in her mouth. She unconsciously began to purr to herself in satisfaction as she pinned the two struggling birds under her paws, delighting in their helpless cheeps and screeches, feeling the warm wriggling body within her teeth, and lightly ran her tongue over the downy feathers, easily scenting the fresh flesh beneath her, begging to be torn to shreds... **

**She was holding one of them in her mouth, ready to crunch down on it when suddenly, the human part of her senses reasserted itself. Horrified and disgusted at what she had been about to do, she violently spat the screeching bird out of her mouth and stared at the two others she had under her paws before rearing up and letting them escape.**

_**(Whoa hold the fuckin' phone! You may **_**look **_**like an animal but no WAY in hell are you gonna start **_**acting **_**like an animal, girlfriend!)**_

**She sighed as she looked down at her clawed feet: she was hungry, and from the looks of things she was going to have to forage for her own meals, since she couldn't see or scent a supermarket anywhere. But damned if she was going to eat a helpless bird! That and who knew where the fluffball had been to begin with!**

**She reared up on her hind legs, spreading her wings a little to balance herself so she wouldn't fall, and batted at one of the hanging red and gold fruit, which looked like a rather fat oblong egg. It swung on its stem, but it didn't fall off just yet. The sphinx sat back on her hind legs and stared up at the fruit, her face a mask of concentration and faint annoyance. **

**Now how the hell was she going to get up there? She began pacing beneath the tree, frowning up at the fruit now and then. She could climb for it...or she could jump for it. She crouched down, wiggled her tailed rear end and leaped with all her might into the air...as she did so she opened her wings wide and flapped them furiously. The frantic flapping of her wings managed to give her some height, but she didn't stay in the air for long. It didn't bother right then...she was concentrating on that fruit, not her crappy flying skills!**

**She swiped at the fruit with her right paw and sent it snapping off its stem and flying to the ground about six feet away with a firm thump. She padded over to where it had fallen and sniffed it cautiously. It smelled like an apple, but it also had an odd spicy scent to it she had never smelled before. She knew that the hopping birds had been pecking at the rotting remains of the fruit...so she knew it wasn't poisonous.**

_**(Or they could just be getting at the worms...)**_

**"Heck with it. You live and ya learn," she mumbled to herself as she crouched to her haunches and pulled the red-gold oblong to her with one extended claw. She batted it from one paw to the other before she finally lowered her head and bit into it. The crunch of her teeth penetrating the skin and digging deep into the crisp crimson flesh beneath it rewarded her with an explosion of clear juice in her mouth. She pulled back, her tail stilling for a minute before it began to switch contentedly, and she grinned broadly.**

**"Not bad...hell, in fact, I like it!"**

**She sharply lifted her head when she heard the strange **_**mrrrrrrrr-ing **_**sound, and the second she lifted her head, it stopped as well. She frowned and went back to her food. Four and a half minutes later she heard it again, and this time, she bared her fangs and got to her feet...swaying a little as she tried to keep her balance.**

**"Okay who's playing the fool around here?" she barked, looking ticked off as she got to her feet and unsheathed her claws, glancing around nervously. Nothing appeared from the surrounding brush however, and she settled back down a third time. She tensed when she heard it again, and this time she forced herself to listen to the odd noise. It sounded...familiar. Kind of...of like...then she looked down at her chest, which was vibrating slightly, and she laughed out loud when she realized the odd burring sound was coming from her...she was purring!**

**_"Everybody wants to be a cat..."_ she singsonged, then snickered. "Well I am one now, Walt Disney...what do ya think of that?"**

**She got back up and switched her tail as she contemplated the fruit on the tree she had batted it down from. She jumped up and down, slapping about six to seven more of the weird fruit down. She gathered them in a pile before she began munching on them. She swallowed several seeds before she finally got it into her head to use her claws to pry them out of the fruit's center...she couldn't spit them out, they got caught in her front teeth.**

**Feeling thirsty after her meal of the odd red-gold fruit she padded over to the waterfall pool and lowered her head to look into it, intending to drink. What she saw there sobered her, however. Though it was her face looking back at her, the rest of her was far from human and she was **_**much **_**larger than she originally had been. She was nearly seven and a half feet in length from nose to tail, and when she sat up she was easily six feet high. Her bulk was impressive indeed...just by looking at herself she figured she weighed now about five hundred pounds or more, give or take if you didn't count her wings. Somebody could ride her comfortably if they wanted to...she snorted at that. When she parted her mouth, she saw her fangs, and her hair was much thicker than before, resembling almost a lion's mane. Her ears stuck out from either side of her thick mane...they looked somewhat normal if you didn't count the pointed tips. **

**She sighed, lowering her head to drink the clear water, which spoiled her image as she placed her lips to the water and began to drink. She was grateful she didn't have to drink like a cat at least, she found...lapping it took too long, and from what she could see in the water she looked pretty stupid doing so, too. The water, much to her surprise, was clean and clear and did not hold a nasty aftertaste like she had been expecting from water in the wild. She sighed and laid down by the pool, lazing in the warm sunlight, smelling the oddly sweet fragrance of the strangely glowing water lilies and snapdragon reed like plants growing in abundance around and in the pool itself.**

**Golden eyes half closed in somnolent ease suddenly flew open again as burning pain shot through her right flank. Roaring in outrage, surprise and pain she shot to her feet and bolted off a few meters, turning around to see what had stung her so grievously.**

**What she saw made her jaw drop in disgust, disbelief, horror, and revulsion. The medium sized gray six legged lizard like creature...it looked like a cross between an iguana and a cat...in a very wrong manner. It was more reptilian than feline, the odd brownish-gray scales on its body showing its natural camouflage, it had four gleaming black round eyes and a long whip-like tail...**

**"Man are you one ugly son of a bitch." **

**It hissed at her, and she bared her fangs at it and snarled menacingly at the approaching creature, the fur on her back bristling and her wings half spread, the feathers spreading out even as the claw marks on her right flank stung and burned, as crimson blood trickled lightly from the wounds it had inflicted on her. Janelle arched her back, bared her teeth and hissed, flexing her claws and getting ready to fight. Damned if she knew how but she was not going to let this ugly lizard thing rough her up without giving back as good as she could get!**

**Janelle snarled at it, unsheathing her fore and back claws and scratching the ground, tearing great furrows in the earth with her claws. The six legged lizard was smaller than she was...akin to that of a young lion cub next to his full grown sire. Either bravery or stupidity drove it onward, as it advanced on her, hissing and growling in an eerie, gravelly counterpoint to her own deep, resonant growl.**

**Janelle reacted by sheer instinct alone, lashing out with one large taloned paw and catching it neatly on the side of its head by sheer dumb luck, sending it flying away from her about three and a half feet away.**

**The lizard thing caught onto her foreleg and began savagely scratching and biting at her...she screamed in pain and angrily shook it off, hissing as she began to circle it, as it began to circle her, too...then suddenly darted at her and viciously sank its teeth into her flank as she tried to jump away. She yowled and threw herself on the ground, hissing like a boiler giving off steam and kicking savagely, her vicious movements dislodging the thing as she bounded away and whirled around to face it again.**

**Shit! The little fucker was fast...**_**faster than she was!**_** Janelle backpedaled, almost falling over herself as she sharply retreated, then twisted around and aimed another blow, trying to hit it on the head again. She missed, but she spun to face it: and twisted sideways as it tried to bound back onto her again. **

**She screeched as it leaped at her left side, clawing savagely at her furred flesh, she backed up, causing it to miss...but she furled her wing close to her side and then extended it sharply, as if to flick away a bothersome insect, striking it with the edge of her wing...which it immediately latched onto. Janelle viciously began flapping her wings wildly, sending it flying off of her wing with a mouthful of feathers, and it again sailed through the air to land on the ground with a harsh thump. It hissed, staggered to its feet, then spat the brilliant golden plumage out and growled at her...Janelle snarled right back at it.**

**"That fucking hurt, you walking pile of garbage," the she-sphinx hissed menacingly. She crouched, hissing in fury as she prepared to pounce on the mutant lizard-cat thing. She swiped at it when it tried to sidle close to her, clipping the side of its head and making it stagger back in pain and disorientation, then while it was trying to regain its senses she quickly pushed off with her hind legs, leaping forward, claws outstretched and her entire feline body elongated as she sprang towards her prey...**

**And completely missed her target as the lizard cat managed to bound out of the way, then twisted almost in on itself and lunged at her. Janelle landed on the ground on all four feet, staggering backwards to try and regain her balance... and in the next five seconds she realized that she had gravely miscalculated: the mutated little thing somehow managed to get past her defenses and latch onto the base of her throat. After the failed pounce and the attempt to regain her balance, she had reared back up somewhat onto her hind legs, almost as if she meant to jump away, which had been her sole saving grace. She roared loudly in agony as she felt its teeth sink into the base of her throat...those teeth were needle sharp and the bite itself burned as if the saliva held acid in it...**

**She viciously began slapping at it with her paws, slinging her head and tossing herself from side to side in an attempt to dislodge the cursed animal from her chest, bellowing her pain, terror and rage to the skies. Through the maelstrom of pain of it trying to get a better hold on her, she somehow managed to open her eyes to slits, just enough to see the thing clinging to her like a malevolent parasite...its size the only thing that was keeping her from being dragged down and it gaining a better hold. She screamed with all her might and raked it with her left paw, which connected with its body...and she felt its jaws give slightly on her: then she swung her right paw and viciously slapped it off her, which ripped it loose from the base of her throat and sent it sprawling a few feet. Before she knew it she had bounded over and had pinned it beneath her own paws...now the tables had been turned: her teeth now surrounded its own throat, and she could clearly taste its flesh and faintly its blood...it tasted absolutely vile, and she wanted to back off and throw up...but the burning pain in her flanks and sides and on her chest made her realize that she had no choice....scaring it off hadn't worked worth a damn...and now...**

_**(Either you kill it or its gonna kill you woman...make your choice!)**_

**Closing her eyes tightly, the young woman succumbed to her new animalistic instincts, which the whole time had been screaming for her to give in to them...Janelle's fangs sank deep into into its throat...hot, viscous, acidic ichor spewed into her mouth as her fangs, which had been only piercing the skin, went fully in and in doing so burst the wall of flesh, severing the main artery in its neck, the vibration of its throat and the pain of her sensitive ears as she heard the ear-rending screech which was abruptly choked off as she squeezed tighter, sinking her teeth deeper even as she dug her claws into its chest, forcing them downward to gut it open like a squirming fish.**

**She felt it shudder twice beneath her before it finally went limp, indicating she had won the bloody battle.**

**Coughing and spitting furiously, the she-sphinx dropped the corpse and backed away, pawing at her mouth and retching violently at the foul, rotten taste of the mutant lizard-cat's blood. She violently threw up what she had eaten, the remains of her food looking like she was throwing up blood and chunks of flesh, but a hot, fruity smell rose from the steaming pile of rejected half digested fruit, showing that no, it wasn't the half eaten carcass of some hapless animal.**

**She glared down at the body of her first kill, her eyes fierce and angry, her lips parted in a savage, terrible snarl as her mouth and fangs dripped greenish-black blood.**

**Her fangs had torn right through the throat of the creature, laying it open like some sort of macabre flower, her claws had left terrible gushing wounds that revealed the intestines, the liver, kidneys, stomach...all the entrails in their glistening, bloody glory, and she had ripped its flank open with one swipe of her paw. Though the claw marks and the bite wounds it had left on her lower neck, her flanks and her sides had hurt like crazy, the little shit being a lot quicker than she was, her size and her strength had been enough for the wild blow she had tossed at it to allow her claws to rend its flesh. The front claws she possessed had neatly carved open four crimson furrows in its flank, which oozed evil looking blood from the gashes there.**

**"Survival of the fittest, ya fucker," she spat at it savagely, giving its limp, steaming form one final slap with her right paw, sending more blood fountaining up from the corpse in a vile shower. **

**Feeling utterly disgusted, she turned and ran back to the pool and all but plunged into the shallow depths, sending water sheeting up and around her, waves swamping the banks and almost drowning the plants. She yowled when the cold water struck her and sprang right back out, shaking her fore and back paws and sneezing sharply, but she forced herself to turn around and go back into the water, though every part of her now screamed not to go near it. She ducked under the crashing falls, allowing the cold fluid to come cascading down on her, allowing it to clean off the blood and to cleanse the wounds she herself had sustained from the battle, tilting her head back and opening her mouth, turning her head to spit the water out to rinse out her mouth. She remained there, fighting every instinct to get the hell out of the stuff until she couldn't stand it anymore, and she bounded out, gasping and sneezing furiously, cursing under her breath. She shook her left back leg, then her right, then she shuddered all over as a soft breeze hit her, making her feel as if she was slowly turning to ice. Sneezing constantly she planted her fore and hind paws on the ground, braced herself and shook herself out furiously, flapping her waterlogged wings to dislodge any liquid in them. Water flew everywhere in a glittering, shining cascade of spray, she looking like a sprinkler that had suddenly gone haywire as water spewed everywhere. She turned her head and actually began to lick her wounds when she sputtered and stopped, spitting sharply as she pawed at her tongue which was now covered in loosened fur.**

**"**_**Hell no, no freaking way**_**...**_**I'll dry off in the sun!"**_** she snarled as she broke into a quick run away from the pool. The quick trot that she had entered swiftly carried her over the soft green grass of the meadow she was in. Strange flowers and odd trees filled her senses, some with violet blue leaves, the scent of blood and death still hung heavy in the air despite the flowers she could scent. She dry retched a couple of times before she coughed and shook her head. The adrenaline rush had worn off and now she felt as if she was carrying a lead weight around her neck and on her back. **

**She kept walking, looking for a place to sleep away her aches and pains. She scanned her surroundings, fighting the waves of fatigue that threatened to lay her out flat. She mechanically put one paw in front of the other, scanning the dark bushes and the high trees around her, seeking a place where she could dry off and sleep. Several times she stumbled and collapsed once, but she struggled to her feet, moaning softly in mingled pain and tiredness.**

_**(Nuh-uh, no fucking way...not until I find a place I can sleep in peace without being bothered by freaks,)**_** she thought angrily to herself. She stopped as she looked around her, and glared wearily at a large tree which was covered with deep green leaves and laden with odd looking blue-violet blossoms tipped with white. **

**"Screw it..." she mumbled, her tail drooping in weariness as she stumbled over to the tree and looked up into its shadowy depths. She crouched down, her muscles trembling as she bounded up into the branches. She hooked onto the lowest one with her claws and ungracefully scrambled up onto its length. She wearily climbed onto the large sunwarmed branch, which looked safe enough, and laid herself down on it. She yawned, as she began drowsing in the warm heat of the sun. **

_**(What a day...geez...what's next, I wonder?)**_** she thought to herself dully as she curled into a ball of tawny fur and golden feathers. The warm sunlight soon lulled her to sleep, curled up on a high branch away from prying eyes, the only evidence she had been in the meadow at all the slain body of her first kill, the rejected refuse of her first meal, the furrows her claws had made, the deep imprints of her paws in the earth and the few golden feathers that had been pulled from her wings that lay strewn about the area.**


End file.
